L'Oréal's Wonder Water Is So Good at Repairing Hair Damage Shoppers Swear It's 'Sorcery'

As seemingly everyone slowly (but surely) leaves the seclusion of stay-at-home orders for the sun-drenched streets of summer, it's becoming increasingly more difficult to hide any bedhead behind a cameras-off Zoom call. And if you're anything like me, your quarantine hobby involved experimenting with hair dyes and new styles, which means your strands are likely in need of a serious reboot. Thankfully, L'Oréal Paris created a product that does just that: Elvive 8 Second Wonder Water (Buy It, $9, amazon.com).

This sweet little product packs a powerful, moisturizing punch in just eight seconds of use. Made with lamellar technology — a type of liquid treatment that delivers a tailored amount of care depending on your strands' damage, according to the brand's site — L'Oréal's Wonder Water can supposedly transform your hair from frizzy to smooth almost instantaneously. Plus, it accomplishes this impressive feat without weighing down your locks — even if you have naturally oily or greasy hair. This is due largely in part to the product's lightweight, intuitive formula. Instead of delivering a heaping dose of moisture to all of the strands on your head — as is the case with most other treatments on the market (i.e. hair masks, leave-in conditioners) — the Wonder Water only repairs those in need, thereby leaving your locks feeling practically weightless.

"O.M.G!!! Most amazing hair treatment I've ever used in my entire life," writes one happy customer. "Most hair masks weigh my hair down but since this is a water [product], it makes it so soft and bouncy. I'm obsessed and will keep buying. Holy grail."

Buy It: L'Oréal Paris Elvive 8 Second Wonder Water, $9, amazon.com

How does Wonder Water do this, exactly? It's all in the science: "Damaged hair is negatively charged and conditioning ingredients are usually positively charged," explains Valerie George, cosmetic chemist and co-host of The Beauty Brains podcast. "The positively charged conditioning agent(s) are attracted to the negatively damaged sites on the hair and they stick together, which leads to conditioned hair." From there, the lamellar technology gets to work, coating the damaged strands with hair-care actives (i.e. amino acids) in very thin layers (aka lamellas) that make the hair shafts smoother in appearance and to the touch. And remember, this magic all goes down in less than 10 seconds — and for the killer price of just $9. (

"The real feat is that L'Oréal was able to do this in a liquid delivery system versus a thick cream, which is exactly what L'Oréal patented," notes George, who's tried Wonder Water IRL and "was pleasantly surprised" by the results. And she's not the only person singing the product's praises. In fact, the budget beauty buy has racked up more than 19,000 reviews on Amazon, where it also has nearly five stars. "I don't know what kind of sorcery this stuff is, but I'll definitely be buying bottle after bottle." shares one customer. Another even goes as far as to say, "I have never in my 22 years felt my hair like this. I feel like I have a completely different head of hair. This product is so amazing and I will FOREVER be using this product in my hair regimen."

In addition to the tens of thousands of rave reviews online, Elvive 8 Second Wonder Water has also caught the attention of Insatiable star, Debby Ryan, who credits the hair-care item for making "[her] natural texture so sparkly and healthy-looking," according to a March 2020 Instagram post. (And while Ryan also included #lorealparispartner in her IG caption, her passion for the product is undeniably palpable.)

As if you needed another reason to snag your very own bottle of Wonder Water, it's incredibly simple to use — just apply two to three times each week on wet, clean hair. Another plus? It's great for all hair types and lengths, but if you have long or thick/curly hair, you're going to want to up the dosage. Check out the bottle's label for instructions on how to do that. From there, massage the treatment into your hair from ears to ends (steer clear of the scalp) for eight seconds. Then, just rinse it out, finish your regular routine, and get ready to marvel at the results staring back at you in the mirror.

Whether you spent the past year+ playing with damaging dyes or just want to boost your hair's health before making a grand return to the real world, L'Oréal's Wonder Water is sure to leave you in, well, wonder. (Up next: The $28 Leave-In Treatment That Transformed My Severely Damaged Hair)